Comments on: Early hybrids show the way: the PLC story http://www.varpartners.net/?p=878 Supporting the most important work in the world… yours. Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:24:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Tom Vander Ark http://www.varpartners.net/?p=878&cpage=1#comment-788 Tom Vander Ark Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:38:06 +0000 http://www.varpartners.net/?p=878#comment-788 Christensen's point that I was echoing is that innovation takes place at the margin. Lots of dropouts have few options (ie non-consumption of public education). Policy makers offer more flexibility to serving kids the traditional system has rejected. Christensen’s point that I was echoing is that innovation takes place at the margin. Lots of dropouts have few options (ie non-consumption of public education). Policy makers offer more flexibility to serving kids the traditional system has rejected.

]]> By: Tom Hoffman http://www.varpartners.net/?p=878&cpage=1#comment-787 Tom Hoffman Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:37:57 +0000 http://www.varpartners.net/?p=878#comment-787 But it is not true that these students were not being offered nothing previously. They were being offered the same thing everyone else in their community got. It just wasn't sufficient. If you want to draw a comparison to "customers," these are not an undesired low-end market. They are, in effect, a more discriminating market, vis a vis their peers. They require higher quality service than their peers. Not that this has anything to do with the value of the approach of the PLC's, but the "disruptive innovation" talk is misplaced. But it is not true that these students were not being offered nothing previously. They were being offered the same thing everyone else in their community got. It just wasn’t sufficient.

If you want to draw a comparison to “customers,” these are not an undesired low-end market. They are, in effect, a more discriminating market, vis a vis their peers. They require higher quality service than their peers.

Not that this has anything to do with the value of the approach of the PLC’s, but the “disruptive innovation” talk is misplaced.

]]>